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Thursday, August 24, 2017

Karnataka Industries Minister R V Deshpande termed the
recent developments at IT major Infosys following sudden resignation of Vishal
Sikka as "unfortunate".

"Very unfortunate developments, this should not have
happened at Infosys," Deshpande said when asked about the recent events at
the city headquartered company.

"I can understand transparency is very important. If
there is no transparency there are ways to find out the truth, but
unfortunately, according to me, investors' confidence and shareholders'
confidence have been shaken," he told reporters.

"Infosys is the pride of the country, it is known to the
entire world. We are all proud of Infosys. I can only say such developments are
unfortunate," he added.

Last Friday, Sikka, the first non-founder CEO of Infosys,
resigned from the company following months of acrimony with high-profile
founders, led by N R Narayana Murthy, citing "malicious" and
"personal attacks" on him.

While Sikka did not name Murthy for his exit, the board of
the US$10 billion firm blamed the founder for "continuous assault"
through "factually inaccurate" and "already-disproved
rumours" for the resignation of the CEO.

Murthy, however, maintained that his only concerns were the
lapses in corporate governance standards, something that Infosys was admired
for at one point.

Sharp decline in Infosys share prices following the
developments has wiped out Rs 34,000 crore of investors' wealth in the last two
days.

When asked about reports that Nandan Nilekani is likely to
return to Infosys, Deshpande said he would not like to comment on it, and it is
left to the decision of the board, founders and shareholders of the company.

Nilekani, one of the co-founders of the company had joined
the Congress party ahead of 2014 Lok Sabha polls. He had also contested and
lost the election from Bengaluru South constituency.

Noting that the developments at the company were not healthy,
Deshpande said, "founders have struggled for the company, at the same time
shareholders have fully cooperated. Vishal Sikka also has good reputation.
These things should have been sorted out in-house".

"I think, still time is there. I am confident that they
are all people with rich experience, good people. The board, founders and
shareholders will come under one roof to resolve this issue," he said.

Infosys
co-founder Nandan Nilekani is likely to return to helm the IT giant, according
to media reports.

However,
clarity on the status of Nilekani's specific role will be clearer in another 48
hours.

Meanwhile,
the buzz of Nandan Nilekani's return to Infosys led to the company's shares
rise as much as 3%.

Many
domestic institutional investors including ICICI Prudential Asset Management,
HDFC Asset Management, Birla Sun Life AMC among others, had written to Infosys
board to bring former chief executive Nandan Nilekani back to take care of the
firm in turbulent times after Vishal Sikka's resignation as MD and CEO.

Nandan
Nilekani was among the seven founders that set up Infosys more than three
decades ago and served as its CEO between March 2002 to April 2007. Later in
2009, Nilekani had left the firm to head the Unique Identification Authority of
India (UIDAI).

According to a moneycontrol.com report,
the Nilekani family owes a 2.29% stake in Infosys, as per the quarter ended
June this year.

Earlier
in the day, Narayana Murthy postponed a scheduled conference with the company's
investors. The said conference will now reportedly be held on August 29.

Wednesday, August 23, 2017

Miklens Bio Pvt. Ltd, a Research and Development
driven Agri Microbial Technology (AMT) product start-up headquartered in Mumbai
has announced the inauguration of its first manufacturing facility in Bengaluru. The plant was inaugurated by
Dr. Stephen Devanesan, Former Dean,
Faculty of Agriculture, Professor, Principal Scientist & Associate Director
of Research, Kerala Agricultural University, in
the presence of Miklens Bio management team, scientists and organic farming
activists.

Miklens Bio manufacturing facility & R & D laboratory
is spread over 10,000 sq. ft. and has an installed capacity to manufacture 10
lakh litres annually. The in-house developed research-based agri inputs to be
manufactured will include Plant
Growth Enhancers, Plant Protection, Bio-Fertilizers and Bio-Pesticides.
Importantly these products are pest & pathogen specific and not crop
specific, thus offering farmers the choice to use only those inputs which meet
their specific requirement.

With
the plant starting commercial production, Miklens Bio will have the necessary
edge to scale up their production to meet the demand of our farmer brethren.
These products have undergone extensive trials under lab and open field
conditions. Miklens Bio has been certified as “Approved Input for Organic
Agriculture” by Control Union a reputed certifying agency worldwide. In
addition to this, the products have been tested in Canada for their efficacy.

Inaugurating
the facility, Dr. Stephen Devanesan, said, “It
is heartening to note that start-ups like Miklens Bio through their research
are developing and manufacturing products that have profound impact on our
eco-system and paving way for sustainable growth. Miklens Bio agri inputs, I am
sure would go a long way in helping our farmers increase yields, improve crop
quality, ensure residue free cultivation and in the process not only improve
their income but also help reduce health hazards of consumers. I am told that
the products are derived from nature and thus they are not only good for the
soil but also monetarily viable for the farmers in comparison with the
synthetic counterparts.”

According
to Santosh Nair, Founder & Managing
Director, Miklens Bio Pvt. Ltd., “We believe in sustainable &
responsible agricultural practices and as a natural corollary our bio products
promote the idea of ‘Farming with naturally driven microbes’ with a goal to
reduce the dependence on toxic chemical based inputs. Our effort is to bring to
the market agricultural inputs that are globally accepted because of the
positive impact they have on farming communities, and on the society.”

Further,
he said, we aim to become a preferred supplier in the “Pure Bio” segment. Our
research focus is to develop & manufacture various biotechnology-based
agricultural inputs to cater to the need of farming community by promoting the
effective advantage of bio-based agri inputs. Also, our research initiatives
will focus on developing innovative products that are not only eco-friendly but
safe and help in increasing the yields across crops, he added.

Our
bio start-up has an ambitious goal to promote sustainable edge to the society
and environment, pointed out Dr. Nisha M
M, Director - Research, Miklens Bio Pvt. Ltd. Following this mission, we
are building mastery in developing bio products that help in Residue Free
Cultivation. This advocate’s use of products derived from microbial sources.
Besides being perfect natural replacements for chemical pesticides, these
products are cost-effective as well and assimilate into the ecosystem without
leaving any toxic residue. Unlike broad-spectrum synthetic chemicals, these
products work specifically against certain target organisms without harming
beneficial organisms, she added.

Smart Software
Testing solutions Inc. (SSTS), the company behind Bangalore basedpCloudy.com -
one of largest mobile device cloud platform, today announced a strategic
investment in Crowd4Test.com, a Bengaluru, India based startup building SaaS
platform for managed Crowd Testing and User Experience testing. The company
also announced its intent to integrate pCloudy and its AI powered Mobile App
Testing platform with Crowd4Test.com with an aim to build world’s largest cloud
platform for mobile and IoT Testing by as early as 2019. As part of the
arrangement, Avinash Tiwari, Co-founder & Director of SSTS will join the
board of Crowd4Test.com.

SSTS Inc. founded in
2015 by Pankaj Goel, Lalit Jain and Avinash Tiwari is leveraging AI and
robotics across its two products, OpKey and pCloudy, to solve some of the
pressing testing needs of enterprises undertaking digital transformation and
IoT journey.

Avinash Tiwari,
Co-Founder of SSTS Inc. said “The investment in Crowd4Test aligns with our
focus of building All-In-One platform for Mobile app and IoT app Testing. By
combining our mobile device cloud and AI powered App certification engine with
2000+ strong global community of testers at Crowd4Test, we are uniquely
positioned to serve mobile testing needs for all segments of our customers from
DIY to Real User Beta Testing and A/B Testing”

SSTS is backed by one of India’s
Leading Early Stage funds – YourNest Angel Fund, along with some of the marquee
angel investors from the industry.

Commenting on this development, Girish
Shivani, Executive director YourNest Angel Fund added – “We are very bullish on
the market for mobile application testing solutions and have seen it grow
significantly over the last few years and is projected to grow to $13.3 billion
market by 2026. SSTS has shown significant traction in this space by
on-boarding 200+ enterprise customers and more than 10,000 mobile developers and
testers over last two years. We are confident that this investment by SSTS team
will help them further expand footprint into this fast-growing segment and
position them as a leader in Mobile application testing space”

Ranganadh Damera,
Founder CEO of Crowd4Test expressed confidence adding “Within a short span of
time, we have been able to create a niche Managed crowd testing platform
trusted by 100+ customers and 2000+ community of tester globally and now by
combining forces with SSTS, we are confident of becoming a leader in our chosen
niche”

Indus Towers, India’s largest telecom infrastructure company,
achieves a key milestone in its sustainable telecom journey by converting half
of its portfolio to green sites. In line with its commitment towards protecting
the environment, the company has made significant progress in expanding its
green sites portfolio to over 62,000 mobile sites across India. Today, Indus
Towers operates more than 86,200 sites as outdoor sites, totalling to 70% of
portfolio, by eliminating usage of air-conditioners at such sites.

Marquee initiatives like ‘Shut AC’ program coupled with
deployment of disruptive storage solutions have resulted in - significant
reduction in direct carbon emissions equivalent to planting 27 million trees
and diesel savings of 200 million litres in last five years. Since its
inception in 2008, the company has consistently worked towards creating value
for all its stakeholders in a sustainable manner with commitment towards green
initiatives and ‘Putting India First’. Technology innovations continue to be the
backbone of every change envisaged at Indus Towers with focus on driving down
environmental impact while enabling uninterrupted telecommunication networks.

Speaking on the occasion, Bimal Dayal, Chief Executive
Officer, Indus Towers said, “Our vision is to achieve diesel
free operations and we are actively exploring deployment of new-age solutions
to reach this goal. Technology and innovation remain to be at the core of all
our business operations as we focus on sustainable telecom journey for a better
India.”

Leveraging innovation and technology to reduce environmental
impact

Indus Towers uses high-energy efficiency solutions to achieve
maximum power output and has been deploying Valve-Regulated Lead-Acid (VRLA)
batteries at its sites. Implementing environment-friendly initiatives such as
Solar Cooling Units (SCUs) and Simple Power Solutions (SPSs) at sites, the
company has saved nearly 40 per cent energy savings since inception. An SCU is
a smart and innovative solution that runs independent of power from a grid,
battery or diesel and is charged with solar energy. It also uses natural air as
its coolant, with zero cost of cooling. The company is also testing Hybrid
solar, fuel cells, bio-mass and CNG/PNG energy solutions to power mobile
towers.

Energy Use and conservation

One of the accomplishments towards reducing significant power
consumption has been replacing air-conditioning with Free Cooling Units (FCUs)
and Natural Cooling Units (NCUs) to maximise the conversion of Indoor (ID) to
Outdoor (OD) as a part of SHUT AC initiative. The company has reduced energy
consumption in mobile towers in addition to lowering carbon emissions.

FarEye, a Logistics Management Solution became a
partner of choice for DHL eCommerce to enhance its customer experience,
optimize its resources and deliver its brand promise ‘real-time’. DHL eCommerce
is a division of the world’s leading logistics company Deutsche Post DHL Group.
The Group generated revenue of more than 57 billion euros in 2016. DHL
eCommerce provides international, standard parcel delivery for business
customers. It supports business processes with mature e-commerce shipping
solutions and technology platforms that help enable various online businesses.

DHL eCommerce continuously invests in technology to improve
processes and have better communication across all parties. FarEye’s platform
became an apt fit as it seamlessly integrated with the organization’s existing
systems and made the IT infrastructure flexible and agile. Being a SaaS
platform, FarEye gave DHL eCommerce the flexibility to the scale-up and down
depending on the demand levels, which gave them an edge to adapt quickly to any
work environment.

DHL eCommerce measured vendors not only basis the features
they offered but evaluated them holistically from a ‘process proposed’
perspective.

Charles Brewer, CEO DHL eCommerce expressed, “With eCommerce
growing at such a rapid pace we see a fantastic opportunity for high-quality
solutions that will offer a great customer experience and more choice,
convenience and control for online shoppers. FarEye’s platform is scalable,
future-oriented and flexible. With FarEye we can deliver ‘delight’ by having
complete visibility of the logistics movement and keeping customer informed at
every step, ‘real-time’.”

Kushal Nahata, Co-founder & CEO FarEye said, “FarEye is
an indispensable support system for brands whose focus is enhanced customer
experience and complete visibility of their logistics. Our association with DHL
e-commerce has been extremely gratifying as we were competing against giants.
FarEye is an enterprise grade technology platform and this win is a testimony
to our platform’s capability and defined processes. We shall continue to strive
towards excellence and keep our customers at the center of all our activities.”

FarEye has proved to be a partner of choice for DHL eCommerce
by optimizing their resources, enhancing their customers’ experience with
real-time alerts & smart analytics and making parcel shops more efficient
with complete visibility.

Freshworks, the leading provider
of cloud-based business software, announced the launch of Freshteam, a
recruitment management software that empowers businesses to efficiently
organize their talent acquisition function, engage with candidates, and better align
the human resources organization to business goals. Freshteam’s flexible hiring
workflows and intuitive design make it a great fit for businesses of all sizes.

According to HBR, 80% of employee turnover
occurs due to faulty hiring decisions. Recruiters spend most of their time in
executing operational responsibilities than concentrating on building quality
pipeline and recruiting, which in turn affects the end-to-end-hiring process.

Freshteam, built on the experiences faced by
the talent acquisition team at Freshworks as it scaled from six employees to a
1000+ strong global workforce, aims to improve the hiring experience for not
just recruiters but also every stakeholder involved the hiring process, thereby
helping businesses deliver an exceptional end-to-end hiring and candidate
experience.

Recruiters can manage the entire recruitment
process all under one platform. In addition to the standard market features
like job posting management and interview scheduling, recruiters can attract
top talent through multiple sourcing channels including social media channels,
contextually collaborate with hiring teams, engage with candidates directly
from the application tracking system (ATS), get organized by building candidate
databases that help archive candidate profiles, and leverage a mobile-friendly
version to be connected on the go.

"At Freshworks, our mission is to build
software that helps our customers manage every critical business
function," said Girish Mathrubootham, CEO & Founder of
Freshworks. "During the early days of Freshworks, it was a big
challenge to get candidate experience right. Recruiters have a tough job of
simultaneously managing candidates, interviewers and external staffing vendors
for every opening to deliver the best hiring experience.

Our talent acquisition team needed a unified
way to manage all the touchpoints of the candidate life cycle, much like how
customer interactions and sales leads are managed through a CRM. As we tried to
solve for it, we wanted to build a solution that puts Candidate Relationship
Management right at the center of an organization's talent acquisition process.
So, we built Freshteam, a recruitment management solution that transforms
hiring experience for recruiters as well as candidates, while helping organizations
grow even faster.”

To encourage SMBs to focus on their hiring
experience, Freshteam will be available for free for companies with less than
50 employees. In future product releases, Freshteam will integrate with other
Freshworks software.

TechGig unveils the first-of-its-kind code contest in India for engineering
students and graduates across India to show off their coding skills to 25+ top
IT/Tech companies. The ‘Virtual Campus League’ creates a level playing where
participating colleges and their talent gets a fair chance to showcase their
talent within the industry.

The
‘talent v/s pedigree’ debate is more relevant in today’s time when an
engineering student’s pedigree determines his chance for internship or
interview with top IT employers. On the other hand, tech firms also want to
reach out to the right talent straight from engineering colleges quickly.
However, the right talent may be beyond their campus hiring strategy and gets
limited to IITs only.

Sensing this gap, TechGig.com has launched ‘Virtual
Campus League’ to create a level playing field where participating
colleges and students get a fair chance to showcase their talent to top IT/Tech
firms. This first-of-its-kind contest is open for 2nd, 3rd and 4th year
engineering students who have a knack for coding and recent engineering
graduates (2017 pass outs) with less than one year work experience.

This contest’s format allows students to appear for coding and aptitude tests,
and their scores would be used to generate their All India Ranks. Participating
IT companies will shortlist candidates for interviews and internships basis
their scores.

In its maiden edition, TechGig Virtual Campus League has forged a strategic
partnership with 30 National Institutes of Technology (NITs). The contest -
which started on August 21, 2017 - welcomes students from all engineering
colleges to register for free.

“Our vision with Virtual Campus League is to create a platform for all
engineering students and graduates to have a fair chance to showcase their
skills to the industry. This will help in two ways – students will be able to
showcase their knowledge to top companies; and secondly it will give
participating companies access to desired talent pool which is beyond their
reach. College TPOs will also be able to monitor the performance of their
students,” said Dipti Tandon, VP-Corporate Strategy, Times Internet
Limited & Head Product and Technology, TechGig.

Highlights of this contest are –

·25+ top IT/Tech companies will be offering
500+ interviews/internship opportunities

·Free participation for Corporates/Colleges/
Students

·Practice tests are also available based on the
format of questions asked by top IT/Tech firms during campus placements

Ramathreya Krishnamurthi, Business Head, TimesJobs &
TechGig is confident that this
contest will open scores of new internships/job interview opportunities for
thousands of engineering graduates. “This is a completely new concept in India,
designed only for engineering students and freshers with less than 1 year work
experience. More than 25 companies have already affirmed their participation in
the Virtual Campus League, with names like Amadeus, Coho, Delhivery in the
line-up. We are sure that engineering students will participate in huge numbers
and make the most of this opportunity with the tech giants,” said Krishnamurthi.

Top
rankers here can win prizes worth Rs 1 Lakh, Certificates with All India Ranks
and TechGig T-shirts to top two rankers of every college. All contest
participants will get online certificates with All India Ranks.

With so much happening at the ‘Virtual Campus League’, participants can only
wait for this momentum to reach its peak and get their dream interview call or
internship with top IT companies.

Global cybersecurity
leader Forcepoint has announced it is further cementing Asia-Pacific operations
to meet growing demand for human-centric cybersecurity solutions by appointing
George Chang as vice president of sales. Chang is based in Forcepoint’s
Singapore office and reports to chief revenue officer, Sean Foster.

The appointment expands on the company’s commitment
to deliver insightful security solutions that help customers understand the
rhythm of people in the organization and flow of critical business data and
intellectual property – wherever it may reside. This people-first approach
helps global enterprises and governments focus resources on activities that
present the greatest risk to their business or mission.

“In the new digital and mobile world where
there is no longer a perimeter, the detection and protection of data using
point products is just not good enough. The market is moving to cyber solutions
that adapt protection based on the context of user behavior, and we need
inspirational and driven leaders to help customers and partners address this
paradigm shift,” said Foster. “George and his team will help lead the charge in
delivering the most intelligent systems that facilitate business and foster
productivity while stopping bad cyber activity.”

Chang brings more than 20 years of experience
in international business across the technology industry. Most recently, he
served as regional vice president of APAC sales at Fortinet in Singapore. Prior
to this, George held senior leadership roles in multiple technology companies
including OpenNet Pte. Ltd., SYSTEX South Asia, Inter-touch Pte. Ltd., and STSN
(Asia Pacific). George earned his master’s degree in international business
from the University of Technology in Sydney, Australia and a bachelor’s degree
in business computing from Queensland University of Technology, Australia.

“As the network perimeter dissolves, companies
are looking to how, when and why people interact with data – and where this
information travels,” said Chang. “We have the unique opportunity to partner
with Asia-Pacific companies to ensure their users and critical business data are
protected everywhere. These organizations can maximize their investments by
putting cyber behaviors at the center of their security equation.”

Capital Float, India’s
largest digital lending platform, announced today that it has raised $45
Million (Rs. 293 crores) in Series C equity funding. The round was led by
Silicon Valley-based Ribbit Capital, with participation from existing investors
- SAIF Partners, Sequoia India and Creation Investments. In parallel, the
company has also raised more than $67 Million (Rs. 437 crores) in new debt
lines from leading banks (including RBL Bank, IDFC Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank)
and NBFCs (including IFMR, Reliance Capital), bringing the total amount of
fresh capital raised in the last 12 months to over $112 Million (Rs. 730
crores).

“We are thrilled to
partner with a world-class FinTech investor like Ribbit Capital at this key
inflection point in Capital Float’s journey,” said Co-founders Sashank
Rishyasringa & Gaurav Hinduja in a joint statement. “We are growing at an
exciting pace, currently originating over Rs. 200 crores in disbursals every
month. Over the past year alone, we have disbursed loans of over Rs. 2,100
crores to 12,000 plus customers across 300 cities. Our proprietary technology
and credit-scoring platform is now able to deliver loans in as fast as 3
minutes via a mobile app. Despite achieving such rapid growth, we have kept our
NPAs to 2%, and are on track to reach profitability by the end of current
fiscal year.”

Capital Float will
utilize these funds to increase its geographic footprint, improve customer
experience and launch a new set of innovative credit products for SMEs across
India. It will also invest in scaling up its hybrid marketplace model and
deepening technology integrations with partner financial institutions.

Over the past year, the
lender has rapidly diversified its portfolio, lending to a wide range of
sectors including manufacturing, services, e-commerce, transportation,
hospitality and retail. Post-demonetization, the company expanded its lending
business to target small merchants and kirana stores,
delivering loans as small as Rs. 25,000. These touch-free loans are delivered in
seconds via its mobile app, powered by the India Stack.

Capital Float has also
pioneered a hybrid marketplace model, where banks and NBFCs “co-lend” alongside
the company’s own balance sheet to fund borrowers. The company has currently
partnered with 5 institutions, including IDFC Bank and IFMR, and the
marketplace contributes to 35% of the company’s total disbursals.

Nick Shalek (Partner)
from Ribbit Capital, which led the Series C, said “We’ve been impressed by the
Capital Float team since the first time we talked with them about their
business four years ago. The company has achieved remarkable growth by
delivering innovative products to small businesses and consumers, while at the
same time providing attractive returns to investors on the platform. With this
financing, Capital Float is further cementing its lead as the top
technology-enabled NBFC in India, and we are thrilled to support the company's
journey.”

Ravi Adusumalli
(Managing Director), SAIF Partners, added “We have been a part of Capital Float’s
journey from their seed round of funding. Their experienced senior management
team has strategically led the company’s growth via innovative products and
partnerships with ecosystem leaders. Capital Float continues to disrupt lending
at a granular level in India.”

Patrick Fisher
(Managing Partner & Founder), Creation Investments, another returning
investor, pointed out to the positive atmosphere created by government
policies. "With the government's drive towards a digital India, we believe
the FinTech sector will be a key enabler towards achieving this vision. Capital
Float has proven itself as a leader in the digital lending space and hence they
have our wholehearted support. We hope with this fresh infusion of funds, the
company will reach even greater heights”, he said.

·New loan
product focusing on small merchants and kirana stores. Micro loans, disbursed
in less than 3 minutes via mobile. Currently disbursing 1,000 loans per month,
plans to reach 5,000/month by end of fiscal year.

·Portfolio
outstanding grew nearly 4x over the last year, and currently stands at Rs. 700
crores.

Monday, August 21, 2017

Samsung India has collaborated with the
Government of Karnataka for a notebook donation drive to extend its support to
students from government schools across Bengaluru, Kolar and Mulbaghal
districts in the state.

A team of volunteers from Samsung R&D
Institute, Bengaluru visited over 450 schools and distributed 160,000 notebooks
and 38,500 pens to over 30,000 students in two days.

“As a market leader, Samsung caters to the needs
of its consumers with meaningful innovations and quality products, and also
pledges to contribute to the needs of the society to create a better life for people. The notebook donation drive, through which we
have been able to reach out to over 30,000 students in Karnataka, is a small
step in that direction,” said Dipesh Shah, Managing Director, Samsung
R&D Institute, Bengaluru.

Another important milestone was the agreement
with Government of Karnataka to help the state efficiently manage its public
healthcare facilities. As part of the agreement, Samsung Research &
Development Institute, Bangalore (SRI-B) provided over 1,000 Samsung Tab IRIS
devices to the Department of Health, Government of Karnataka. Samsung Tab IRIS,
the first commercial tablet to be approved by UIDAI for Aadhaar and KYC
verification, is enabling Public Health Centers (PHC) in the state to build
their database in a digital format.

Samsung began its journey in India in 1995,
and in over two decades, it has grown into one of the country’s biggest
consumer product companies, with 2 manufacturing plants, 5 R&D centres, 1
design centre, 1.5 lakh retail outlets and over 70,000 employees. Samsung is
also India’s Most Trusted Brand and is pioneering local manufacturing through
its ‘Make for India’ initiative.

Samsung India Citizenship Initiatives

Samsung Smart Class, the Company’s flagship
citizen program in India, promotes digital education among underprivileged
students, especially in rural India. This initiative aims to bridge the digital
gap between rural and urban India and provide equal opportunities for quality
education to children from all backgrounds. Since 2013, over 470 Samsung Smart
Class have been set up at Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya schools across the length
and breadth of India benefitting over 2.5 lakh students. In addition, over
8,000 teachers have been trained on how to use interactive technology to teach.

The Company has also established Samsung
Technical Schools in partnership with the Ministry of Micro, Small & Medium
Enterprises (MSME), Government of India and ITIs in the states of Bihar, West
Bengal, Kerala, Rajasthan and Delhi, to address the need for talented manpower with practical
know-how and relevant industry experience. Students at the 22 Samsung Technical
Schools also benefit from exposure to Samsung manufacturing facilities and
authorized service centers. Till date, Samsung Technical Schools have provided
technical training for job opportunities to over 2,000 youth.

One of the Company’s key citizenship
initiatives is the Samsung Smart Healthcare program that has been designed to
support the Government’s efforts to provide the best of healthcare to millions
of citizens especially from the economically weaker sections. Through this
program, Samsung provides government hospitals its innovative healthcare
equipment such as ultrasound, digital radiology and accessories, with the aim to
make affordable healthcare accessible to the large number of patients at select
Government hospitals in Chennai, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Gurugram and Delhi.

TCS iON, a strategic unit of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), a
leading global IT services, consulting and business solutions organization has announced a
partnership with The Institute of
Company Secretaries of India (ICSI) for its digital transformation
initiative. As a part of this association, TCS iON will deploy an
end-to-end digital learning solution for ICSI to facilitate self-education
amongst students, especially aimed for the benefit of students in remote areas
who may not have easy access to ICSI’s regional chapters.

The Digital Learning Platform developed by TCS iON will enable
students to remain constantly connected with ICSI and actively participate in
projects and discussion forums promoted by the Institute. By leveraging the
digital forces, the platform will provide students, anywhere-anytime-any device
access to ICSI’s study material helping them learn at their own pace and also
develop comprehensive understanding of the course subjects. To support this
digital transformation, TCS iON will help migrate the ICSI’s course content for
foundation, executive and professional courses into suitable digital formats.

Commenting on the partnership, Venguswamy
Ramaswamy, Global Head, TCS iON said, “Technology is playing a pivotal
role in driving Digital transformation in the field of education. Today’s
learners need a Social First approach to learning and ICSI has taken this path
for their students. This will help ICSI to cater to the changing needs of the
learning community in a more relevant and adaptable manner. We look
forward to the partnership with ICSI as we use our technology prowess to make
institute’s rich content easily accessible to a larger section of the student
community. We are also confident that the institute’s digitization efforts will
go a long way in retaining its position as one of the premier educational
institutions in India.”

CS (Dr.) Shyam Agarwal, ICSI President said, “ICSI has embarked on a ‘digital
transformation’ journey. Newer tools are being used to disseminate
‘knowledge’ to the members and students in the form of webinars, live webcasts
of programs and seminars. With the ever-changing needs of the profession,
standardization of delivery has become the need of the hour. Therefore, ICSI in
association with TCS iON has taken an initiative of setting up a digital
learning platform for our students across the length and breadth of the
country. Through this partnership we will provide an enriching experience to
our students and members”

Aimed at enhancing
women representation in technology, Pitney Bowes Inc., a global technology
company that provides innovative products and solutions to power commerce,
today announced the winners of its second diversity hackathon ‘Pitney Bowes
Code Inspire 2.0’, targeted at women in colleges, working professionals
and those who have taken a career break.

Pitney Bowes Code Inspire 2.0 was a week-long programming
marathon which had over 2500+participants registering for the
online qualifying round, of which 12 were shortlisted and invited for
the final round to the Pitney Bowes Pune office. This is the second successful
edition of the Pitney Bowes Diversity hackathon.

Diversity &
Inclusion are deep-rooted in Pitney Bowes culture and the company boasts of
several women-centric policies, some of which include:

Mayeri, the Pitney Bowes
Maternity program that extends 6 months of maternity leave to new mothers,
along with other key benefits such as free sessions with nutritionists,
tie-ups with crèches, a designated buddy to help make a smooth transition
back from maternity

A ‘Special hiring day’ on
International Women’s Day dedicated in the calendar to facilitate
referrals for women

It is this commitment of providing a great work culture that
values diversity and inclusion for employees that led to Pitney Bowes being
recognized as a Great Work Place seven times, since the inception of its India
operations in 2007. In 2017, Pitney Bowes ranked #9 in India’s Great Place to
Work list; has been recognized for
Excellence in driving a ‘Culture of Innovation & Change Management’ by the
Association of Talent Development and has been named America’s Best Large Employers for the second
time.

Namma Bengaluru witnessed the biggest ever mathematics carnival
hosted by Cuemath - India's leading home-based yesterday, after-school
learning program for mathematics. From math learning tools to intuitive puzzles
and games, this mathematics carnival was thoughtfully designed to make sure
that every child (from KG – 8th grade) enjoyed the process of
math learning at the event. The event took place at Elaan Convention Centre, JP
Nagar and was attended by over 5000 people. (3000+ children along with their
parents).

In the spirit of Independence Day, Cuemath has found a reason to
also celebrate 'freedom from the fear of math'. This year, our Independence
Day, 15th August, is also a special date that comes only once
in 100 years. It is a Pythagorean Triplet. So how does August 15, 2017
really become a Pythagorean triplet? Pythagorean triplet is sum of the square
of the first two sides equivalent to the square if the third side. So, 152 +
82 = 172

Organized against the backdrop of a mathematical coincidence,
which was observed on August 15, 2017, this mathematics carnival by Cuemath was
one of a kind. To build the enthusiasm and excitement, Cuemath curated some
brain cracking math learning tools and puzzles for children between KG and 8th grade
that challenged their creativity, imagination, thinking skills, and social
skills. Some of the key activities included, Fraction Hopscotch, Arithmetic
Spinner, Go Bananas, Play with Geometry, Code Decode and Math Jigsaw.

Manan Khurma, Founder and CEO at Cuemath said,“This is a first of its kind math carnival that Bangalore has ever
witnessed. There's mathematics in everything around us. And as people who
celebrate math, we're only too pleased to note that this year our independence
day also has an interesting mathematical coincidence. In the spirit of our
Independence Day, we wanted to showcase the many ways in which the fear of
mathematics can be conquered and what better way than organizing a fun filled
carnival; bringing kids under one roof with interesting games and puzzles and
helping them experience the fascinating side of math in an engaging and
non-competitive environment”.

Commenting on Cuemath Pythagoras Fest 2017,
Shereena, Principal, Sunshine School, said, “Cuemath has a lot of scope for kids because kids learn
best when they are having fun. At Cuemath its about engaging children to learn
mathematics the right way. 26 of my students accompanied me all the way from
Kanakapura to be a part of this engaging carnival. I’m sure my students learnt
a lot and I hope to use some of these activities in my school as well. This
result is proof of the efficiencies that active learning can bring and thereby
help children experience the engaging side of mathematics”.

Started in 2013, Cuemath is a home-based,
active math learning program for kids between KG to 8th Grade.
Combining the power of technology and personal teaching, Cuemath offers a
unique curriculum that ensures a holistic learning experience through
workbooks, math boxes, puzzle cards and a tablet. Cuemath’s self-paced program
is setting a unique precedence for math teaching and learning as it challenges
its traditional means of rote learning formulas, restricting curriculum to a
fixed syllabus and focusing purely on scoring.

The future ahead is driven by technology. In
just a decade from now, the skill that will truly matter is one’s ability to
solve complex problems where math will surely play a huge role. Thus, one needs
to begin now and empower children to go beyond the mark/score system and enable
them with the ability to think logically and apply an analytical approach to
arrive at answers.

Government on Saturday pushed a GST preparing
program under the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojna. Through this program
around two lakh people will be readied, and those readied people will then
further help in associations especially in domains, for instance, selection and
calculation of cost hazard under the new obligation organization.Skill
development minister Rajiv Pratap Rudy said at an event deal with to check the
second recognition of Skill India Mission,that this readiness program will
completed in 14 states.

Rudy alongside Water Resources Minister Uma Bharti,Oil Minister
Dharmendra Pradhan,Health Minister J P Nadda,Textiles Minister Smriti Irani and
Rural Development Minister Narendra Singh Tomar carefully initiated the
training course at 100 focuses in the nation.The service
likewise propelled a national entrance for assessors and mentors other than 51
new PMKVY focuses. With this, the aggregate number of PMKVY focuses has
expanded to 200.

Nestlé India, announced its association with Amazon India for
the launch of MAGGI Noodles’ new NUTRI-LICIOUS range. This range of
MAGGI Noodles offers a wholesome proposition targeted towards the breakfast
occasion. The NUTRI-LICIOUS range will be available to consumers
first on Amazon.in starting August 20, 2017. The association will enable MAGGI to
reach out even further to consumers across the country through Amazon.in.

Speaking on the association, Maarten Geraets, General Manager, Foods, Nestlé India said, “Our new MAGGI NUTRI-LICIOUS
Noodles are in line with our Simply Good initiative to provide healthier &
tastier choices to our consumers. The NUTRI-LICIOUS range is a wholesome
proposition targeted towards the breakfast occasions and made with healthier
grains like Atta & Oats with the benefit of fibre & 15% RDA of protein.
We are pleased to associate with Amazon.in to reach out to our consumers across
India”

Commenting on the partnership, Manish Tiwary, VP -
Category Management, Amazon India said “Amazon.in today has
become a destination for customers seeking diverse & quality selection
across categories. We constantly strive to widen this selection by offering
millions of products ranging from daily essentials to international gourmet
treats. We are excited to associate with Nestlé India to launch MAGGI
NUTRI-LICIOUS Noodles first on Amazon.in.”

The new range of MAGGI NUTRI-LICIOUS will be available first on
Amazon.in and then subsequently, rolled out across millions of retail outlets
in India.

As part of the special launch offer, Amazon Prime members will
get a 33% discount on the MAGGI NUTRI-LICIOUS range on August 20, 2017.
Furthermore, customers paying through Amazon Pay will get a 25% cash back.
Customers can also participate in an Amazon.in app only quiz contest, where 20
lucky winners will be rewarded Rs 5,000 each.